HYDERABAD: The capital region of Andhra Pradesh is faced with severe shortage of office accommodation. As many as 40 corporate houses and IT companies have been unsuccessfully scouting for office accommodation for the last one year in Vijayawada and surrounding areas. Even Visakhapatnam city does not have sufficient space to house private offices

About 30 IT companies owned by people of Andhra origin approached the AP government a year ago expressing their willingness to launch operations in the capital region. “We are coordinating with local real estate dealers and the state government on office accommodation. But getting plug-and-play work space is almost impossible. Builders are in traditional mode of approach while taking up construction,” said Ravi Kumar Vemuru, chief executive officer of AP Non-Resident Telugu Society.

In all, 21 companies have sought 75,200 sft office space in Vijayawada. The companies promised to generate around 1,000 jobs. Same is the case with Viskhapatnam and Tirupati. Many companied had waited for about eight months to find a suitable office accommodation.

Vijayawada has 30,000 residential flats ready for sale, but the city does not have even a single plug-and-play office space accommodation. “Real estate market has been traditional in the state. Many builders have not given thought of providing plug-and-play office space,” said Ch Sudhakar Rao, president of Vijayawada charter of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI).

One of the reasons for the absence of office accommodation is the high cost involved in providing plug-and-play amenities for corporate houses. It would cost 30 per cent more for fully furnished office space accommodation.